ALBANY — The University of Albany football team exacted revenge against Colgate in a rematch of last year's season opener by earning a 40-23 victory to start its 40th season of varsity football at University Field.

In last year's opener, Albany squandered a 10-point halftime lead only to lose 37-34 in overtime.

Early on it appeared to be on the same course, but the active hands of senior defensive tackle Ocieka Bakou (6-foot, 270 pounds) helped turn things around.

With the Great Danes trailing 10-7, Bakou blocked two punts during a 51/2-minute span in the second quarter that led to nine points and paved the way for a 16-10 halftime lead that they would never relinquish.

Bakou laid out his body to tip the ball and make the first stuff. It resulted in a wild scramble that wound up being kicked into the back of the end zone for a safety. Bakou got a larger chunk of the ball with his hand on the second block, which was scooped up by sophomore linebacker Kyle Jordan and returned 19 yards for a score.

"Coach Ford takes a lot of pride in special teams," Bakou said. "As an individual, if you understand that sense of pride that Coach Ford has, then you want to make sure that you do everything that you can. It (the plays) happened so fast. One second, the gap was closed. Then the next, it was wide open."

UAlbany caused disruptions on the defensive line with its ability to get its hand on the ball. The Great Danes had six pass deflections, including three by senior defensive end Dean Mercuris.

"People don't understand how important the tipped pass is," Ford said. "Any time that you can't get to the quarterback, you need to move into the passing lane and get your hands up. It can alter the game."

On the offensive side, the Great Danes' beefy offensive line of Kadeem Williams, Joe Hoback, Eric LaPorta, Anthony Bazzoffi and Adam Pasnik controlled the line through much of the night and created holes in the Raiders' defense for running backs Drew Smith and Omar Osbourne to navigate through for lengthy gains.

"Are we going to be able to block the line of scrimmage?" Ford said. "In the first half, we blocked the run really well. In the second half, we came out and dominated their defensive line and just ran the ball almost at will."

Smith, an All-NEC preseason team selection, set a career high with 174 rushing yards on 24 carries and scored two touchdowns. His previous best came last Sept. 24 when he rushed for 155 yards in a 44-21 win at Columbia.

In the process, Smith also leapfrogged Pat Ryder (played from 1986-89) and Brian Manigault (1998-2001) to vault into sixth all-time among UAlbany rushers with 2,369 yards.

Osbourne, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound sophomore from Syracuse, also set a single-game career high in rushing with 122 yards on 16 carries.

Senior wide receiver Ryan Kirchner had a relatively quiet night, but still accomplished another milestone. His five catches for 41 yards moved him past Chris Phillis (1999-2001) to take sole possession of third all-time in receptions with 127.

Only Tim Bush (2007-09) with 147 receptions and Dan Gmelin (1994-97) with 136 receptions have more catches.

Sophomore quarterback Will Fiacchi completed 16 of 25 passes for 143 yards with an interception in his starting debut.